Recently, leaders from a number of countries from around the world sent messages separately to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin and Premier Wen Jiabao, in which the foreign leaders expressed their sorrow at the disaster that befell No.361 submarine and at the death of the Chinese Navy sailors, and extended their sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the disaster and to the Chinese people.

The following are the foreign leaders sending their condolences:

-- President of Vietnam, Tran Duc Luong;

-- President of Laos, Khamtay Siphandone;

-- President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun;

-- President of Uruguay, Jorge Batlle;

-- President of Azerbaijan, Haydar Aliyev;

-- President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze;

-- President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko;

-- King of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev;

-- Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani and Crown Prince of Qatar, Sheikh Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani;

-- President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev;

-- President of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad;

-- President of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozvar Marovic;

-- Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi;

-- Prime Minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan.